


The killings

by heme



Series: Chemistry student Deidara [9]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heme/pseuds/heme
Summary: Deidara has a meeting with Hizashi Hyuuga regarding his undergraduate research proposal.
Relationships: Deidara/Sasori (Naruto)
Series: Chemistry student Deidara [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813744
Kudos: 10





	The killings

**Author's Note:**

> Thought it might be fun to mash two edgy topics together: fluorine chemistry with a slight twist of mechanistic chemical biology. If there are any inaccuracies regarding the technical descriptions I've given in the story, please do correct me.
> 
> And a bit of Neji crossdressing, which provides some background regarding my claim in 'The vacation'.
> 
> Enjoy.

“… Curse you, foul dragon!” One of the protagonists uttered using his last dying breath, “May you burn in the pits of hell for all eternity!”

And the scene marked the cliffhanger for a poorly written fantasy drama.

Deidara sighed, then closed his laptop screen with a dull thud. In true literary tradition, the plot and the dialogues were nothing less than typical cliché, coming from a highly inexperienced author.

Yet it did not stop the chemistry student from binge – watching the series and wiping crocodile tears at the casts’ predestined suffering.

Throw in a handful of overdramatic self – inserts where Deidara was the princess held captive, Sasori – no – Danna being of course, the hero and his prince charming. Things were now certainly cranked up a notch in their degree of entertainment, which the blond grinned at the mere thought.

Alas, good times never last long enough for the fantasy to play out.

It was already two in the morning, which the thought of checking his email inbox suddenly occurred to the sculptor.

Three unread emails. Two spam, already auto – filtered into the spambox, and the other came from a somebody.

A certain somebody he sent an email earlier towards making a request about having a meeting appointment with.

Hizashi Hyuuga. Head of the Hyuuga research group.

He clicked into the email with shaky fingers, and upcoming was:

“Dear Mr. Iwa,

With regards to your proposal submitted for conducting undergraduate research, please visit me at my office for a discussion at Tuesday, 9 AM.

Best wishes,

Hizashi Hyuuga”  
\- Sent at 22:05 PM

The calender on Deidara’s phone stated it was already Tuesday. He only has less than six hours of sleep at this rate, if the time – wasting burnout prevention program after the summer prelim exams continues further into the night.

Because of the situation of circumstances, Deidara could only hurry up and slump into his bed. Being a sleep – deprived person was never good for one’s health, after all. Even though drifting into the world of shallow dreams were not horrible, but rather indeed quite enjoyable, getting entertainment in the physical world was raw and real as compared to its imaginary counterpart.

Next thing Deidara knew was his phone alarm’s shrill squawking. After taking the sweet time going through his morning cleaning routine and nibbled on a cheese and ham croissant from the supermarket across the road, the blond grabbed the printed paper copy of his proposal, along with his tablet.

Also his keys, lest he wanted to lock himself out of his room, or risk his belongings being stolen by unartistic thieves going through an unlocked door. At least the last time Sasori – no – Danna intruded on his privacy, he could acknowledge the artistry behind the engineering marvel in the mechanism lifting the redhead from the first floor to the third and across Deidara’s window.

A ten – minute cycle trip was all it took to get to the chemistry building in the natural sciences area. The second floor of block B, was Hizashi’s research labs located at.

Deidara ran up the stairs, huffing and panting on his way. He could not risk being late to the appointment – giving a bad first impression to someone who has your future on their fingertips was unfathomable.

Onto the second floor it was. The chemistry student was slouched over, hands on his kneecaps, in a hilarious attempt to take a brief rest because of his evident lack of exercising. He took a glance at his phone, and discovered there was still ten minutes left. After spending so much time with Sasori – no – Danna, a fact for a certain that being early never hurts was made with great pain.

But life always has a way to grab the last morsel of hope from the hands and mouths of unsuspecting victims.

The glass door leading to the research group was locked. Deidara gritted his teeth in great annoyance to push his irritation and embarrassment down, then muster enough courage with his inner encouragement to ring the doorbell. He was never one to ask from help, as it would be a sign of weakness, “Fucking hell, un.” The blond swore under his breath, before a helpful postdoc who introduced himself as Nawaki arrived back from his toilet break.

“Could you show me where is Professor Hyuuga’s office at?”

“Ah, just right there over the corner.”

“Cheers man, un.” And Deidara quickly walked towards his destination.

“ _Un_?” Nawaki could only laugh at the grunt, after the newcomer was out of earshot.

Rapping thrice onto the closed door with his knuckles, Deidara exposed the Hyuuga from his natural habitat inside the office.

To accentuate his supposed professionalism, if professionalism surely does exists and was defined on Deidara, his trademark half – ponytail was even pulled into a full – ponytail for this special occasion. The sculptor tried to make himself sound enthusiastic for the meetup, but tuned enough so not to overblown the acting, “Good morning, professor Hyuuga. I’m Deidara Iwa.”

“Please take a seat, Mr Iwa. There is no need for excessive formalities – calling me Mr Hyuuga is enough. The bottled waters are in the box on your left, feel free to help yourself.”

Should the blond just walk over and grab a bottle of water like how he would in Sasori – no – Danna’s place, or sit there and get down to business pretending his mouth was not parched?

And should Deidara continue to call him professor Hyuuga, according to the formal unspoken regulations, or go on with Hizashi’s request? What if the request was only a guise of common courtesy?

Jashin, what a whole lot of nitty – gritty social cues bullshit. At this rate, Deidara could have sworn he should be bowing down at a right angle along and down the slippery slope the instant he saw Hizashi. Meaningless, the entirely meaningless reading between the lines because ‘no egos shall be bruised’ can go into the drain instead, the chemistry student decided, he was going to do it the way which was made explicit for him.

“Thank you, Mr Hyuuga. Just Deidara is perfectly fine, un.” The sculptor said, as he took a bottle of water over the edge of the chair, then had a dainty swig.

It was a fortunate coincidence for Deidara’s coin flip decision that Hizashi was not one for stiff structures due to his uptight family.

“Ah, we are here to discuss your proposal. Have you got a paper copy of the document?” The man who was addressed slid the PI the printed version, “- Thanks.”

Deidara took an anxious swallow of his spit. He was less than ready to the potential verbal lashdown because of his shitty proposal. The ‘Ah, yes, Mr Hyuuga, please lay thine eyes upon the piece of shit on which I don’t even understand what have I written. Apologies for first and foremost, my subpar abilities, and second, my coarse language, un.’

“Per your proposal, I can safely assume you have some basic knowledge of fluorine chemistry [1]. My group has a focus on chemical biology, and reactions in biological systems involving fluorine are very few in number. Which prompts my question – why have you chosen my group as the place for your undergraduate research?”

The student blanked at the somewhat unexpected question. He was already prepared for being grilled on the technical details, but being thrown the obvious was to him, the unobvious. In the franticness caused by the panic rush, all thoughts currently in his mind were flashbacks of the soppy TV series from last night.

‘Oh, Sasori – no – Danna, you are my hero, un!’ The princess gave a –

– ‘Get a hold of yourself, Deidara Iwa!’ The frontal cortex of Deidara roared, ‘First things first, hide your microexpressions! Second, this is the most basic question that you can get. Why have you chosen Hizashi’s group out of the dozens after dozens in the entire university?’

‘Because… Hizashi looks like a nice guy?” The occipital lobe smiled innocently.

‘Fuck off, un.’

“It was precisely because reactions involving fluorine were surprisingly few in number in biological systems that I have decided to conduct research in the Hyuuga group, un.” Deidara recollected his memories, smirk never faltering, “From what I have seen on the list of publications affiliated with this group, work is centred around metal centres and enzymatic catalysis in constructing bioactive compounds. Fluorine has very interesting functions in modifying the properties of ligands, and hence catalytic properties of a metal centre [2] in an enzyme.”

Way to go, Deidara. Bring out the big cannons in order to make yourself sound far more credible, and save your sorry ass from the mess later with the assistance of a helpful postdoc.

As if Hizashi never knew the tricks up your sleeve, Mr Iwa. Have you conveniently forgotten about the fact the person sitting in front of you were once upon a time, also an undergrad, just like you?

“Aside from massive modifications three fluorine atoms on an imidazole ring can introduce, which can be very problematic in nature, there is a problem with the safety per your procedure.”

Deidara gulped the discomfort down. He was prepared for every beatdown the Hyuuga can give him.

“… Activating nitrile groups attached to an aromatic ring using a Lewis acid to speed up an aluminium hydride reduction is a risky procedure. Even though aluminium hydrides were rather stable, even to a temperature of one hundred degrees Celsius, the presence of a catalyst will significantly decrease its stability. In addition, fluorinated compounds form chelation complexes with aluminium, which ignites on successive workups.”

The blond was using safety measures drilled into him as a chemistry student to suppress the urges of educating Hizashi that ‘art is an explosion’.

“So, Deidara, do you have an improvement on this certain step to suggest?”

“Borane reagents?” Deidara coughed. Moving to the top of aluminium decreases relative reactivity. Besides, boron has a habit of forming massive clusters with ridiculous structures to satisfy an empty octet.

Hizashi took a drink out of his mug of coffee, “It could work in theory, but using borane reagents on a molar scale is somewhat risky. Raney nickel plus hydrogen would be a better choice.”

“Ah, makes sense, un.” Throwing in some compliments would never go wrong.

“It’s rather rare to see fluorinated molecules being used as ligands, Deidara, though it is a hot topic in pharmaceutical chemistry…”

The elder Hyuuga’s musings were interrupted by shouting in the corridors. It sounded like no researcher, but rather a bunch of high school students.

“Lee, why is it me who has to crossdress again? And why have you dragged us to my father’s workplace for this?”

“Don’t worry Neji! You are perfect for this outfit!”

Aside from the boys, there appeared to be quite an unladylike girl, “Why is it me, who has to put up with you guys being immature all the time?”

“Tenten, it is unyouthful to be thinking negatively like this! We are in the springtime of youth, and this is the right time to participate in lots of activities!”

And then there were several knocks on the door to Hizashi’s office. Deidara was praising Jashin for whoever the youthful guy was, whom gave him a break out of this hell.

“Professor Hyuuga,” A boy with thick eyebrows entered, “don’t Neji look simply great in this outfit?” He gestured to the long – haired friend in a black dress, hair up in a messy bun. And the embodiment of youth acknowledged Deidara’s presence, “Good morning Miss, isn’t it such a wonderful day?”

Deidara nearly retracted his hymn, already half - floating in the air, towards Jashin because of the word ‘miss’.

The dudette with two buns on her head interrupted, “Lee, I’m pretty sure the other person in the room is a guy.” Finally, there was someone with some common sense in this crazy world. So impressive.

This prompted a snort from the chemistry student, “I’m indeed a guy, un.”

Neji nearly cried at seeing one of his own kind, the one who was most definitely often forced to crossdress because of long hair.

“Pleased to meet you,” the younger Hyuuga turned to Deidara, manners ever – proper, “My name is Neji Hyuuga.”

“Deidara Iwa, un.”

“Alright, Neji,” Hizashi cut off the ruckus, “Tell your friends to hang out elsewhere. I’m in a conversation with an undergraduate researcher right now.”

The trio was then escorted out by a flustered Neji, who closed the door in good thought.

“Sorry, Deidara, my son’s friends could be quite challenging to deal with sometimes.”

What else than comforting words could Deidara respond with, else he risks alienating his future boss?

“It’s fine, un.” The sculptor grinned, “Everyone has been through this phase.”

“Anyway, where have we left off?” The professor wondered for a second, “Yes, fluorine in pharmaceuticals. I’m not exactly discouraging your use of fluorine, since it provides very intriguing modifications in pharmaceutical molecules, and similarly, your ligands. An example would be increasing the lipophilicity of drugs, such as the dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor sitagliptin. The main issue to be noted is fluorine has a wide diameter of influence, on average around four to five bonds around the fluorine atom will be impacted significantly.”

“I see. Is there a certain way to circumvent unwanted effects, un?”

Hizashi, by now, has already gotten used to the blond’s pellicular speech impediment. “Circumvent, not exactly. But there are pre - emptive preventative measures. You could perform calculations on excitation energies of the reaction centre and free energy calculations for the procedure of ligand docking and release. Be warned, Deidara, the topic you have chosen will be quite challenging for an undergraduate; you still have time and my approval to opt for an alternative.”

Deidara simply could not turn away from an interesting challenge that could raise his artistic skills, “I’ll go with my original choice, un.”

The Hyuuga smiled to himself. Only a nutty inexperienced undergrad who was not afraid of real pain would move forward like this. It was rather nostalgic, so to speak, seeing someone who was similar to his younger self.

“Alright, I believe we are done discussing your proposal. I’ll assign you a postdoc who will teach you what you need. Any questions, please feel free to ask him.” Hizashi opened the door of his office, then led Deidara inside one of the laboratories. “This is Nawaki.”

Deidara’s gape was nearly audible. The exact same postdoc whom he met an hour ago.

“Nawaki?”

“Aren’t you the adorable new guy I’ve met earlier?”

The PI then departed, while checking on some reactions that were running, “Well, great to see you guys already familiar with each other. Nawaki, you’re responsible for showing him the ropes. Have a great day.”

Nawaki decided to question Deidara about something he has been wondering about, “Deidara, what’s with your _un_?”

“Speech impediment, un. Had it since I could remember.”

“I see. I think it’s best if you start your research at early July, in that way, both of you and I have more time to prepare.” The postdoc fumbled through his pockets, finally fishing out his phone, “Here’s my contact information.” Which the rookie took a photo of.

“Sure, I’ll send it to your email after I edit it, un. I need to leave now – someone doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Well then, bye!” Nawaki was such a sweet family – friendly ball of sunshine.

And to be fair, Hizashi was not exactly bad, judging from the interactions they had today.

Deidara jumped on his bike, on his way to the café he and Sasori – no – Danna agreed to meet up in.

Perhaps for a change – up, he was actually early for once.

The blond headed straight to the counter, ordering the usual café latte, sweetened to the extreme with stevia.

While Deidara was picking out some spare bills from his pocket, a familiar ‘ahem’ snapped him out of his routine.

“Brat.”

“Danna, un?”

“Even though you weren’t late, you kept me waiting. So buy me a cold drip, don’t like the bitter.”

“Nope.” Deidara smirked, keeping his money out of Sasori’s short arms. “You already bought yourself a cup, un.”

“Already having a cup and buying another are not mutually exclusive, brat.”

“You’re right, Danna, un. But old man Oonoki don’t give me much to spend each month. Just barely enough for me to survive according to my current lifestyle. The rest I get from flogging my sculptures up online to sell.”

“Which is frankly speaking, the extras you earn a lot.” Sasori lazily smirked, “Your sculptures aren’t cheap at all, brat. So there’s no reason for you not to buy me the coffee, which is my favourite drink.”

Deidara huffed, “Fine! Unless I get a kiss in return, un.”

“Actually, brat, I have a better deal. You went to see a PI earlier today, no?” The puppeteer took the appropriate amount of money out of Deidara’s pocket, and gave it to the cashier.

“How did you know, Danna? Who told you?”

“You did. Just now.”

The sculptor sighed, pinching his eyebrows, “You win, un.”

Sasori took the coffee from the barista, making his way back to the table, “I always do, brat. Maybe if you weren’t such a brat, I’ll even help to edit your proposal for you.”

“But you don’t even study chemistry, Danna.”

“It’s no big deal, brat. I can keep track of the maths and physics inside, because it’s common knowledge engineering students have to study more physics than a physics major, and more maths than a maths major.” The redhead opened the lid of his laptop, noting the blond’s new hairstyle, “Your ponytail reminded me that you have the potential to be an excellent crossdresser, brat. You should buy yourself a black dress, it goes well with anything.”

Never has Deidara’s sympathy for Neji skyrocketed to such entirely new levels.

* * *

Footnotes:

[1]: Fluorine is edgy and cool, and so is Deidara. Besides, both has a blond colour.  
[2]: Alright, if any of you readers decided to elaborate on this one – minute creation as your thesis after seeing this story, please credit me in the acknowledgements.


End file.
